Health Headlines - August 6

Study Reveals New Genetic Clues About Cancer

A genetic anomaly in people with a higher-than-normal risk of developing cancer has been identified by Canadian researchers. They said the findings may lead to the development of a blood test that can detect tumors at an early stage when they're most treatable and could improve understanding of how cancers are contracted in the general population.

The study included people in families with a rare inherited disorder called Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), which increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer in childhood and early adulthood. The researchers found that people with LFS have greater variation in their DNA than people without the condition, the Canadian Press reported.

People with LFS have more copy number variations (CNVs), the duplication or deletion of large segments of DNA, said the researchers. They also noted that most people with LFS have a mutation in a gene that normally stabilizes DNA. The study found that people with this mutation in blood cells had a much higher rate of CNVs than people without the mutation.

"So it would imply that people who have a mutation in this gene and are susceptible to cancer have inherently regions of their DNA which are duplicated or deleted and therefore are unstable. And that may have something to do with the mechanism by which they develop cancer," said study leader Dr. David Malkin of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the CP reported.

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Another Malaria Vaccine To Begin Human Testing

A malaria vaccine that showed promise in tests on animals is ready for testing in people, according to an international team of scientists. Currently, there is no vaccine for malaria.

The new vaccine worked well in mice and is expected to begin small-scale human safety trials next year, BBC News reported.

The vaccine targets the "blood stage" of malaria, in which parasite numbers rapidly increase in the bloodstream after bursting out of cells. The researchers believe the vaccine can trigger a massive immune response against the malaria parasite at this stage. In mice, the vaccine reduced malaria parasite levels by 70 percent to 85 percent. The findings appear in the journal Nature.

Some experimental malaria vaccines are already being tested on people in malaria-affected countries, BBC News reported.

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Medicare OK'd Fake Suppliers: Report

Medicare approved two fake companies to supply wheelchairs and other equipment, even though the phony firms had no inventory or clients, says a Government Accountability Office report released Monday.

The bogus companies in Maryland and Virginia were set up by government investigators looking into fraud problems afflicting Medicare, Bloomberg news reported.

"If real fraudsters had been in charge of the fictitious companies, they would have been clear to bill Medicare from the Virginia office for potentially millions of dollars of false supplies," the GAO said.

Billing tests for the fake Maryland company weren't completed because the investigators didn't receive the necessary passwords from Medicare, Bloomberg reported.

In the fiscal year ending March 2007, Medicare made about $1 billion in improper payments on canes, prosthetic devices, wheelchairs, and other equipment. Medicare says it's implementing new billing oversight requirements for medical suppliers, according to Bloomberg.

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U.S. Woman First to Get Cloned Puppies From S. Korean Company

A California women is the initial customer of a South Korean company that claims to be the world's first successful commercial canine cloning service. Bernann McKinney received five puppies Tuesday that were cloned from her late pitbull Booger.

His frozen cells were brought to RNL Bio of Seoul, South Korea, in March and nurtured before formal cloning work began in May, the Associated Press reported. RNL identified the puppies as Booger's genuine clones and reconfirmation tests are being conducted by Seoul National University scientists.

RNL eventually plans to clone about 300 dogs a year and may even clone camels for customers in the Middle East. The company charges up to $150,000 for dog cloning, but McKinney will pay only $50,000 because she's the first customer and helped with publicity, the AP said.

''It's a miracle!'' McKinney repeatedly shouted when she saw her cloned puppies at the laboratory, the news service reported.

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Vaccine May Give HIV Patients a Break From Regular Medication

A vaccine designed to give HIV patients a prolonged respite from their regular medication will be tested in a trial of 345 patients in 21 centers in Europe and the United States, researchers announced at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

It's believed giving HIV patients a break from standard HIV therapy would help alleviate adverse side effects associated with the drugs and may also help delay the emergence of drug-resistant viruses, BBC News reported. It would also provide substantial savings for health care services.

The vaccine was developed by Norway-based biotechnology company Bionor Immuno. Results from the trial are due by the end of 2009.

"A successful immunotherapeutic HIV vaccine would give patients and doctors enormous advantages over current treatments, both in developed and developing countries," said Dr. Barry Peters, of Kings College London, BBC News reported.

"Even if this vaccine is not the final answer, it could help the march toward a successful immunotherapeutic HIV vaccine," said Peters, who is leading the research in Great Britain.